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<html><head><!-- This document was created from RTF source by rtftohtml version
2.5 --><title>word issue 3</title></head><body>ACM DIGEST<p>
	Volume 2	Number 1<u><p>
	</u><p>
<b><p>
FIRESIDE CHAT</b><p>
Owen Mathews '95, Chair of ACM<p>
<p>
	During the summer, Dr. Treu and I thought about what ACM has been, and what we
both would like it to become.  Of course, there has always been the aspect of a
professional society attached to the club, and that was an important facet of
our activities.  However, in addition to this, we decided that ACM should
function to bring CS majors and prospective majors a little closer together as
a group, fostering a sense of community within the department.  When Dr. Treu,
Randy (my roommate and the ACM treasurer) and I met at the beginning of the
Fall term, we set goals to accomplish both of these objectives.  <p>
	Naturally, the group is engaged in a professional sense.  We have had three
regular monthly meetings (the first Thursday of each month at 6:00 PM), during
which we have business items to discuss and a program which follows. At the
first meeting, Dr. Treu demonstrated the World Wide Web on Mosaic. Our local
Internet specialist, he extolled the versatility and usefulness of the Web, and
charged each CS major with the task of creating his or her own home page.  At
the second meeting, Dr. Abernethy talked about his summer research at the
NASA/JOVE program in Pasadena, CA.  Although the slide projector was behaving a
little too nondeterministically for his tastes, he pulled off a very
interesting and impressive presentation. Because of its proximity to exams, the
third meeting had no program. <p>
	In addition to the meetings, we planned to have one speaker per term come to
give a CS-related talk.  This term, Dr. Barret Bryant from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham came to enlighten us about object-oriented database
programming.  The language that he is researching on a grant from IBM is CORAL:
Concurrent Object-oriented Relational Access Language.  The implications of
object-oriented databases are far-reaching, as are those of parallel computing.
As you might imagine, combining these two paradigms makes for some interesting
possibilities! <p>
	In an effort to promote non-computer science related activity, we also planned
at least one event per month to be strictly social.  In October, we showed the
computer-themed movie <i>Sneakers</i> to a captive -- if small -- audience.  We
also showed the Simpsons' Halloween episodes (all five!) while partaking of
candy on the 31st (naturally). We met for doughnuts one night in November to
try to break the monotony of studying.  In December we presented the classic
holiday (and final exam time!) film <i>It's a Wonderful Life</i> for the entire
campus as finals crept near.  Dr. Treu is importing this tradition from
Virginia and is determined to make it "stick" here at Furman. <p>
	I have distributed a survey to the current student group in hopes of getting a
feel for everyone's interests, likes and dislikes.  To some extent it will
determine what we will be doing the rest of the year.  I'm personally looking
forward to the next couple of terms.  To all alumni reading this, please feel
free to write.  Let us know what you're doing at graduate school or in jobs,
and pass on any helpful advice.  (I know I could use some myself!)  Meanwhile,
all of us ACM folks here at Furman will continue to work this year toward our
goals.  Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noel!  Merry Christmas!  <p>
	-- Owen Mathews<b><p>
<p>
UPE CHAPTER GETS OFF THE GROUND</b><p>
Alan Shealy '95, UPE President<p>
<p>
	In the spring of 1994, the Furman Computer Science Department was granted a
charter to the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society.  Upsilon Pi Epsilon was
founded in 1967 to recognize scholarship and professionalism in the Computing
Sciences and is officially recognized by both the ACM and IEEE Computer
Society.<p>
	The honor society is international in scope with over 100 chapters and
continues to expand.  The Furman chapter of UPE is the 127th in the world and
the fourth in South Carolina.<p>
	Our chapter was formed on April 18, 1994 when Robert Roggio performed the
charter ceremony.  Dr. Roggio is a professor at the University of North Florida
and a member of the UPE Board.  Twelve charter members were subsequently
elected to membership.  Requirements for student membership include:<p>
*	A major in computer science<p>
*	A GPA greater than 3.5 in the major<p>
*	A cumulative GPA greater than 3.0<p>
*	At least 20 hours completed in the major<p>
*	At least 64 hours completed overall<p>
	This fall we have sought to establish UPE within the department and make all
students in the department aware of its existence.  We held a drop-in study
break/Christmas Party on study day for all of the CS students, faculty and
staff to take a break from preparing for finals.  These study breaks will be
continued throughout the year on study day each term.  <p>
	Other activities include dinners for UPE members each term.  On February 2,
1995, our second annual UPE induction ceremony will be held with an
accompanying banquet.  Also, we plan to sponsor a department-wide picnic in the
spring.<p>
	UPE seems well on its way to becoming another part of our ever expanding CS
Department at Furman.<p>
<b><p>
FROM THE CHAIR</b><p>
Dr. Ken Abernethy, Chair, CS Deptartment<p>
<p>
	Seasons Greetings!  The year 1994 has been an exciting one for the CS
Department.  Of course, the highlight was moving into Riley Hall, but we've had
lots of additional exciting news as well.  The completion of Riley Hall has
energized significant curriculum revision and computing technology
funding-raising activities this year.<p>
	The university's increasing strength and reputation in computing led the
National Science Foundation to provide almost a quarter of a million dollars
toward three significant computing initiatives this past year.  Last summer,
our inaugural National Science Foundation Young Scholars in Computing program
brought 30 talented rising high school juniors and seniors to campus for a four
week enrichment program.  Its success has led to NSF funding for a second
summer's program for 1995.  Additional support for this program from the
Frederick W. Symmes Foundation enabled us to expand its scope and include six
Symmes Scholars from the local area.<p>
	A second NSF grant has provided state-of-the-art multimedia computing
facilities to support significant enhancements to our introductory computing
courses.  This project also benefited greatly from grants from the Reeves
Foundation and the Charles A. Frueauff Foundation.<p>
	A third NSF grant, coupled with a donation from Silicon Graphics, Inc., has
funded an innovative multidisciplinary course (Computer Science, Mathematics,
and Physics) in Computational Science.  These same three departments are
engaged in a curriculum revision and innovation to incorporate multimedia and
scientific visualization experiences into their programs.  This ambitious
project received a major boost with funding for $175,000 from the William M.
Keck Foundation in June.<p>
	A proposal pending at the Kresge Foundation would provide the resources
necessary to complete this project and challenge Furman to provide a one
million dollar endowment fund to perpetuate the benefits and achievements
gained.  Augmenting this project, Furman received its first NASA JOVE program
grant to support space related research in September.  Dr. Porter and I are
participants and the grant will provide scholarship and summer research stipend
support for four Furman computing students per year.<p>
	All of these efforts will have a tremendous impact on the computing
experiences of our students and have provided Furman with a computing
environment that is exemplar by national standards.  We hope all of you will
visit us soon and see some of these changes firsthand.  In the meantime, on
behalf of all the faculty I wish you and your family a most joyous holiday!<p>
	Dr. Abernethy<u><p>
	</u><p>
<b><p>
Check Out Our New, Improved Web Site!</b><p>
<b><p>
	</b>The Furman CS Department presence on the World Wide Web is being
continually expanded.  Among the recent additions are an electronic version of
this newsletter, and an opportunity for "visiting" alums to interactively
register with us.  We're working on an alumni page through which everyone can
keep in touch.  This year's Homecoming participants will soon find their
information on the page, and we intend to continue expanding it.  All alums
with access to the Web are invited to tour our pages
(http://s9000.furman.edu/).  If any of you have pages of your own, or
suggestions for improving ours, please don't hesitate to drop us a
line!<b><i><p>
CS Department News In Brief</i></b><u><p>
	</u><p>
<b><p>
Furman Hosts Small College Computing Conference</b><p>
	Over the weekend of November 11 and 12, Furman played host to the Eighth
Annual Southeastern Small College Computing Conference, one of the
fastest-growing conferences in the field of Computer Science.  Approximately
120 academicians and industry professionals gathered in Greenville to present
the results of recent work in various areas of CS.  Included among the roster
of participants was alumnus Mark Aldridge ('94) who presented a paper entitled
"Two Viable Options for Parallel Computing in Small Colleges," a result of his
work as a Furman Advantage Research Fellow with Dr. Kevin Treu.  Included for
the first time as part of the conference was a programming contest, which
featured five teams in its inaugural implementation.  The conference was quite
a success, and a fine opportunity to show off our new facilities.<b><p>
<p>
Programming Contest Teams Compete in Macon, GA</b><p>
	The 65-team field of participants in the ACM Southeast Regional Programming
Contest for 1994 included two teams from Furman.  The contest, held this year
at Mercer University on November 19, proved for the second consecutive year to
be a frustrating experience.  Lack of familiarity with the C++ compiler on the
part of both the teams and the contest organizers cost the teams considerable
problem-solving time.  Still, one Furman team did solve a problem.  The
students participating were Tim Cannon ('95), Greg Cogdell ('96), Cross Ganaway
('95), Randy Lee ('95), Owen Mathews ('95) and Alan Shealy ('95).<b><p>
<p>
Student Earns Award in Paper Competition</b><p>
	With a paper and a presentation entitled "Static Condensation Applied to
Parallel Processing," senior Justin Aaron was honored with the third place
prize in the student paper competition at the ACM Mid-South Conference in
Gatlinburg, TN.  The paper was the result of his Furman Advantage work with Dr.
Hayden Porter.<b><p>
<p>
Softball Team Takes the Title (?)</b><p>
	In the spring of 1994 the CS Department fielded its first entrant in the
co-rec intramural softball league.  The team -- the Run-Time Errors -- also
competed in the fall season and came away with the league championship
t-shirts!  It must be conceded, however, that no games were actually played.
The only games that weren't rained out resulted in forfeit victories for the CS
Dept. team.  So, though we never actually played, we were undefeated!  A win is
a win is a win...<b><p>
<p>
Faculty News</b><p>
	In addition to their regular business of teaching, the CS Department faculty
has been quite active in the past year.  Following are some highlights,
professional and otherwise.  <b>Dr. Ken Abernethy</b> spent 10 weeks in the
summer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA conducting research
in formal methods for software specification requirements as part of an ongoing
NASA Joint Venture (JOVE) grant.  He recently published the long-awaited
textbook <u>Exploring the Science of Computing</u> with <b>Dr. Tom Allen</b>.
The pair also received an NSF grant in excess of $100,000 to equip a lab for
projects in multimedia computing, and are working on a new text.  Dr. Allen
will be taking his first sabbatical during winter and spring terms.  He spent
two weeks last summer on a golfing pilgrimage to Scotland with three other
Furman staff members.  <b>Ms. Peggy Batchelor</b> has done significant
consulting work for The Transylvania Childrens Center in Brevard, NC.  She is
officially a full-time member of the faculty for the 1994-95 school year.
<b>Dr. Ray Nanney</b> recently completed a manuscript with Dr. Abernethy for a
laboratory text on ClarisWorks that is currently being used in CS16.  This fall
he has served as coordinator for the department's internship and part-time
employment opportunities initiative for students.  In addition, he has
coordinated a university proposal to the Henry Luce Foundation to support a
Luce Professorship in Cognitive Science at Furman.  <b>Dr. Hayden Porter</b> is
the co-director of a $130,000 NSF grant to support the design of a new course
in computational science.  The grant includes the installation of four SGI
Indigo 2 Extreme high-performance graphics computers.  He also received a
research grant from the NASA JOVE program for a proposal entitled "Using
Massively Parallel Computers to Model Global Circulation of the Earth's
Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere," and presented an invited paper at the
American Geophysical Union entitled "Electron Transport Models, Past, Present
and Future."  He is greatly enjoying his newly-constructed home on Paris
Mountain.  <b>Dr. Kevin Treu</b> was awarded the New Faculty Award for 1993-94
by the Association of Furman Students.  He was the local arrangements chair for
the Southeastern Small College Computing Conference (at which he also published
a paper on parallel computing), and joined Drs. Abernethy and Allen in
directing the NSF Young Scholars Program over the summer.  He and his wife
Julie are expecting their third child any day now.<b><i><p>
Class Notes</i></b><p>
Let your old friends, the current students and faculty know what you've been up
to!  Send in your class note today to <i>ACM Digest Class Notes</i>, Department
of Computer Science, Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613 (e-mail:
treu@furman.edu).  Include your electronic mail address if you have one, and
please include your graduation year and maiden name (if applicable).<u><p>
	</u><p>
<i><p>
1976</i><b><p>
Steve Deese</b> is an Electronic Data Interchange consultant for Duke Power,
and is Vice-Chair of the Utility Industry Group committee.  He and his wife
Ophie have three boys, Jamie, Randy and Jonathon.  [Rte. 2, Box 272, Pageland,
SC, 29728; <u>e-mail</u>: jsd9509@prdc.prdc.dukepower.com]<p>
<i><p>
1982</i><b><p>
Alan Boda</b> is a Principal Systems Specialist with the Digital Equipment
Corp.  [573 Windgrove Road, Marietta, GA 30067; <u>e-mail</u>:
boda@zydeco.enet.dec.com]<p>
<b><p>
Kevan Miller</b> is in software technology at the IBM T.J. Watson Research
Center and is attending Columbia University part-time.  His daughter Hanna was
born on June 17, 1992.  [3 Kilian Dr., Danbury, CT 06811; <u>e-mail</u>:
klm@watson.ibm.com]<p>
<b><p>
Sandy Morgan</b> received her MBA from Georgia State University in 1989, and
presently is a Systems and Programming Manager at Mid-State Bank, supervising a
staff of programmers and microcomputer specialists.  [754 South Seventh St.,
Grover Beach, CA 93433; <u>e-mail</u>: sandym3327@aol.com]<p>
<i><p>
1983</i><b><p>
Pamela Blalock</b> works for Kodak as a Principal Software Engineer in the
Color Management Group.  She recently cycled 3,400 miles from Seattle to
Williamsburg in 24 days.  [1541 Middlesex St., Apt. 19, Lowell, MA 01851;
<u>e-mail</u>: pamela@keps.com]<p>
<b><p>
Alicia Sautter-Truman</b> is employed as a Systems Administrator at General
Electric Medical Systems in Florence, SC.  She was married in 1988 and has a
daughter, Samantha, born on April 22, 1992.  [GE Medical Systems, 3001 West
Radio Dr., Florence, SC 29501; <u>e-mail:</u> truman@odin.med.ge.com]<p>
<i><p>
1984</i><b><p>
Karen Boda</b> is a Support Team Manager with Hewlett-Packard.
[573 Windgrove Road, Marietta, GA 30067]<p>
<i><p>
1985</i><b><p>
Cindy (Hinchman) Lyons</b> is a Team Manager at Microsoft Corporation in
Charlotte, NC.  She is a member of the database support group which provides
all levels of support for the FoxPro database products.  [11068 Deep Cove Dr.,
Tega Cay, SC 29715; <u>e-mail</u>: cindyly@microsoft.com]<p>
<i><p>
1988</i><b><p>
Craig Wilbanks</b> took a leave of absence from SDI in the past year to serve
as campaign manager for Liz Patterson's lieutenant governor effort.  [317 E.
Hillcrest Dr., Greenville, SC 29609; <u>e-mail</u>: craig998@aol.com]<p>
<i><p>
1990</i><b><p>
Eric Bax</b> is pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science at CalTech after a stint
in the Peace Corps.  [<u>e-mail:</u> eric@csvax.cs.caltech.edu]<b><p>
<p>
Charlie Poag</b> is a Systems Programmer for Coleman Research under an FM
contract with MUSC, where his wife Lisbeth Wylie ('92) is a dental student.
They have an 8-month old part cat/part raptor named Gabriella.  [1983 Greenpark
Ave., Charleston, SC 29414; <u>e-mail</u>: poagcp@musc.edu]
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